Sept 3, 2009

District 9 (2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Neill Blomkamp
Starring Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Vanessa Haywood, Louis Minnaar
TriStar Pictures-Rated R-Science Fiction-152 min
Most alien invasion films envision an advanced race poised to conquer mankind, “District 9” imagines that given a chance, we will mistreat displaced extraterrestrials. This scenario gains credibility once we meet the "prawns," via pseudo-newsreel and documentary footage.
Arriving in a malfunctioning mothership, they look like an insect-lobster hybrid, stronger and are larger than humans. They speak in whirs and clicks through fluttering tentacles resembling a billowing mustache dangling over their mouthparts. These are not cuddly, endearing, nor even vaguely humanoid creatures.
The story begins 20 years after the prawn ship becomes marooned over Johannesburg, South Africa. A million prawns disembark at gunpoint to be interred in a miserable refugee camp called "District 9." Despite the camp's squalid conditions, the prawns double in number over the following two decades, causing unrest in the camp and provoking fear amongst Johannesburg's residents who want the camp relocated further from their city.
The film stereotypes the aliens as shiftless and violent, contained in camps where they can be controlled. The parallels to Nazi concentration camps or to Apartheid are obvious. Initially settling the camp on a garbage dump, the increasing value of this real estate constitutes the real motivation to relocate the aliens to a smaller, more isolated location.
The care and feeding of these creatures is contracted to the Multi-National United Corporation known as M.N.U. The movie plays into our notion that all big corporations are greedy and corrupt with hidden agendas of their own. The company's legal team insists that each prawn household must be served with an eviction notice 24 hours prior to moving to the camp. District 9's lawless conditions are worsened by gun-toting Nigerian gangsters selling goods at outrageous prices.
The daunting task of serving eviction notices falls to Wikus (Sharlto Copley), a somewhat naive, but gung-ho son-in-law of the region's M.N.U. overseer. Anything can and does go wrong when Wikus and dozens of heavily armed soldiers begin knocking on prawn doors. It's only fair to warn viewers that the film's violence is off the charts. Death by exploding bullet is a riot of blood and slime set against the muddied camp and pushing the squeamish factor through the roof.
Occurring in the present day, the developing plot sees Wikus targeted by his own company, but it was difficult to focus on his dilemma because my mind kept replaying the inhumane treatment of the prawns. Where was Amnesty International, Africa Rights, Advocates International, or Better World Campaign? Why didn't the Red Cross step up? Was there no underground movement on behalf of the prawns?
Though unbalanced by its one-sided perspective, the straight ahead storytelling is somewhat rescued by fascinating aliens, and by the humor and irony of Wikus' predicament. "District 9" succeeds as satire in an era ripe for spoofs masquerading as science fiction.

Inglourious Bastards (2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger
Weinstein Co.-Rated R-Drama-153 min
A small group of American soldiers, commanded by Aldo Raine (Pitt), plot to terrorize Nazi soldiers in Occupied France. Though Tarantino worked on his script for more than a decade, this rather conventional war movie is lacking his trademark rapier wit. Tension mounts when Hitler's SS plans a Paris film premiere to celebrate the exploits of their best sniper, Fredrick Zoller (Bruhl). A British lieutenant (Fassbender) organizes an Allied group known as the Bastards to blow up the theater. However, the cinema's owner (Laurent), has an even better idea. With spies everywhere, the Nazis come perilously close to uncovering both schemes. Expect an old-fashioned WWII drama and enjoy the film for Tarantino's expert technical construction.

Post Grad (2009)
* * (Grade C-)
Directed by Vicky Jenson
Starring Alexis Bledel, Catherine Reitman, Jane Lynch, Michael Keaton, Carol Burnett, Bobby Coleman, Zach Gilford, Rodrigo Santoro
Fox Searchlight-Rated PG-13-Comedy-89 min
Cute-as-a-button college grad Ryden Malby (Bledel), is compelled to move back home with her quirky family (Keaton, Lynch, Burnett and Coleman) because even her college fails to land her a good job. Between romantic misfires, domestic drama, and a series of humiliating, low-paying jobs, Ryden's path to independence remains elusive. Sadly, what begins as an effort to voice the frustrations of unemployed grads becomes a happy sappy romantic comedy. Lacking unique content, this film may quickly join the ranks of the unwatched.

The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Starring Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston, Jane McLean, Arliss Howard, Hailey McCann, Brooklynn Proulx
New Line Cinema-Rated PG-13-Drama, Science Fiction-147 min
This weepy drama is adapted from Audrey Niffenegger's novel positioning Henry (Bana) as a time-traveling librarian. Henry, stricken by a genetic "anomaly," lives his life in random order, disappearing into the past or future with no control over where or when, but he always returns to the beautiful Clare (McAdams) who first met a handsome adult version of Henry while still a child. She anxiously wants to grow up so Henry can fulfill his promise to marry her, but domestic bliss proves to be a fantasy since Henry frequently disappears, only to reappear days, weeks or months later. For every element of the wondrous "Benjamin Button," there's a chunk of the weepy "Notebook," meant to stir romantic notions into a tearful potboiler.

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Neal Brennan
Starring Jeremy Piven, Ving Rhames, David Koechner
Paramount Vantage-Rated R-Comedy-90 min
The second project from Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions, (the first being "The Foot Fist Way"), "The Goods" smartly relies on a maniacal Jeremy Piven to deliver the laughs. As Don Ready, a used-car liquidator, Piven's character is hired to turn a troubled car dealer's Fourth of July event into a money-maker. Colorful characters are played by Ving Rhames and David Koechner, while director Neal Brennan, known for his involvement on the hit, "Chappelle's Show," comes on board to synchronize the film's fireworks.

Ponyo (2008)
* * *1/2 (Grade A-)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, Peter Sohn
Voiced by Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Noah Lindsey Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Cloris Leachman, Lily Tomlin, Betty White
Disney-Rated G-Animated, Family-100 min
Hayao Miyazaki's latest family film is rendered in traditional 2-D animation and retrofitted with an all-star English voice cast for its American release. The story, loosely based on "The Little Mermaid," finds young fish princess Ponyo (voiced by Cyrus) longing to become human after being pulled from the sea by a 5-year-old boy named Sosuke (Jonas). The children must prove the power of their love by using it to realign a precariously unbalanced natural world. Liam Neeson intones Ponyo's overprotective father -- once a man who transformed himself into a fish king while Cate Blanchett voices Ponyo's mother. In Miyazaki's imaginative vision, all animate and inanimate objects are changelings, a concept easily understood by children everywhere.

Bandslam (2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Todd Graff
Starring Alyson Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell, Lisa Kudrow
Summit Entertainment-Rated PG-Drama-151 min
Another year, another tweeny performance-centric drama set against the backdrop of high school. A girl-meets-boy romance evolves when the school's popular Charlotte (Michalka) persuades the school outcast Will (Connell) and his friend Sa5m played by Hudgens (the 5 is silent, hee hee) to help form a rock band for an upcoming competition known as "Bandslam." Lisa Kudrow appears as Will's mom in this original screenplay, unusual because it doesn't rely on previously established Disney or Nickelodeon Channel characters, but takes its chances on the tween movie-going wave that has made productions of this ilk both popular and profitable.